GUWAHATI: As the Manipur “hostage” crisis involving Kuki and Naga communities continues, church leaders have volunteered to broker peace.
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh lauded the role being played by the church leaders in trying to defuse tensions.
A ten-member team of church leaders, representing the Council for Baptist Churches in North East India and the Manipur Baptist Convention, called on Singh on Monday to discuss the tense situation between the two tribal communities.
An official statement said the church leaders volunteered to broker peace between the two communities. Singh said he felt touched by the church leaders meeting him and offering their help to restore peace.
The church leaders will engage two teams to work for peace. One team will travel to the Kuki-majority Kangpokpi district, while the other will visit the Naga-majority Senapati district.
“The church leaders strongly feel that hostages on both sides need to be released on humanitarian grounds urgently,” the statement said.
People from both communities were held captive by each other after the recent killings of three tribal church leaders in Kangpokpi district. Later, Nagas released 14 Kuki civilians, and similarly, Kukis freed 14 Naga individuals.
According to Kuki organisations, 14 more Kuki individuals were missing. The Nagas said there was no trace of six more of their people, including two pastors.
Meanwhile, hundreds of trucks have remained stranded for the past five days amid a “total shutdown” called by the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) in Kuki areas and an “economic blockade” imposed by the United Naga Council (UNC) in Naga areas.
KIM had announced the shutdown in protest against the church leaders’ killings and the government’s failure to rescue the 14 Kuki individuals. UNC imposed the economic blockade as the government has not been able to rescue the six Naga civilians.
The drivers of the vehicles, stranded mostly in the Imphal Valley and Senapati district, appealed to the state government to ensure their safe passage.
“We have been stuck for the past five days and facing an acute shortage of food and drinking water,” a driver said. “Some people helped us with rice and dal, but that was not enough,” he added.
Another driver appealed to the government to provide security escorts so they could reach their respective destinations. “We have ferried goods to different parts of the Northeast, but have never suffered like this. Bandhs in Manipur are unpredictable, often sudden,” he said.